Encouraging super at a young age

FOR a lot of young people, like Rockhampton’s Krystle Swanson, superannuation isn’t on the top of her priority list.

“It’s not something you really think about at my age because retirement is so far away,” the 24-year-old said.

When Krystle tried rolling over her super into the one account two weeks ago, the busy mother of three gave up after struggling to get original documentation together.

“Because I had changed names and been through a divorce there was so much involved in trying to roll it over,” Krystle said.

Krystle, who has a mortgage to pay, along with the costs of a car loan and day care, school, netball and ballet for her girls, said superannuation wasn’t something she took too seriously at this stage.

Steve Gardner, relationships manager for Media Super Australia, said a lot of young people were in the same boat.

“It’s hard for young people to think that far ahead,” Mr Gardner said.

“We find the interest starts at about 50 onwards, when the house is paid off, you’ve been overseas and retirement is getting closer.”

Contrary to this, Mr Gardner said any extra super contribution from a young age could make a huge difference in the long run.

“It depends on the individual and if you can afford the extra, because once it’s in, you can’t touch it,” Mr Gardner said.

Mr Gardner said up until 1987 employers paid only 3% super, but now the compulsory amount is 9%, with some companies paying up to 15% to their employees.

“If we look at an average wage of $50,000, a 9% super contribution is an extra $4500 a year.”